RAI International’s new director visits Toronto

Piero Badaloni defines guidelines for future programming

RAI International’s new director Piero Badaloni had an eye on the wallet, the other on the line-up for the coming TV season, while preparing for this week’s visit to North America. His tour includes two stops in Canada, on June 8 in Toronto and the following day in Montreal.
Badaloni was referring most importantly to a meeting with the Prime Minister’s Office that will earn RAI International €70 million (the text is currently on the desk of Claudio Cappon, RAI general director; approval might come within the week). Italians living in North America, on the other hand, are more interested in programming. Many did not like the decision to reduce Porta a Porta — Bruno Vespa’s news analysis program — from three to one night per week. In New Jersey, disgruntled viewers even formed a committee to ‘save’ RAI International.
“This controversy amazes me,” said Badaloni. “Actually, the decision was taken in January, when my editorial plan was approved.”
Maybe Bruno Vespa just found out.
“Well, you said it. RAI International must be the synthesis of the three RAI networks; I simply applied the concept of the plurality of information, alternating Porta a Porta with the other news analysis programs, i.e. Giovanni Floris’ Ballarò and Michele Santoro’s Anno Zero.”
Some viewers took this decision as the first step in a progressive reduction of Vespa’s presence in RAI.
“From this standpoint, people are free to take it as they please. My decision was approved in January. I am not aware of any particular strategy; the choices other network directors make are absolutely independent from mine. However, people should remember that nobody in RAI is untouchable. Not Vespa, not me.”

What do you expect from your visit to the Italian community in North America?
“I just returned from Africa, and after Canada and the U.S. I will travel to Australia and then to South America. I expect to gather important indications for constructing our line-up for the 2007-2008 season. I hope to have an exchange free from political prejudice, and I’m referring in particular to initiatives taken by a few small, but highly politicized groups. I’d like people to consider that each of us would have an ideal line-up, which would be unique and different from anybody else’s. We have to accept our differences and co-exist with them. I want to reach a synthesis through pluralism.”

When you accepted this position at RAI International, you jumped on board a moving train. What should we expect for the coming months?
“That’s right, indeed I jumped on a moving train, because when I took the helm of the network the line-up for the 2007 season had already been decided. I deemed it opportune to make a few progressive changes without revolutionizing things. I began addressing the problem reported months ago by the Foreign Ministry; at the time, 86 percent of our viewers declared their dissatisfaction with our service.”

Which guidelines will inform your re-launch strategy?
“The basic message is clear: raising the quality of our programming and giving a more modern image of Italy, through programs produced by RAI. For instance, I included in the line-up Fabio Fazio’s program, which is fully deserving of being shown but for reasons unknown, had been neglected until now. RAI International must be a showcase for the three RAI networks and for RAI Educational, it cannot be all RAI 1, all the time. We produce 15 percent of our programs, and I have very clear ideas on these. The rest is selected from what the other networks produce.”

Much revolves around the approval of the agreement between RAI and PMO. How are things going?
“They’re going well, as the text is on the desk of the general director of RAI and it could be signed as early as this week. This new agreement requires RAI to increase its commitment to our network. At present, RAI is going through a rough patch, which is the reason why the agreement has not been signed yet. With those resources — about €70 million — we could work on three major projects: an all-news channel, a sports channel, and a line-up for Europe. Of course this is not something we can do on our own; we’ll see whether the upper management will support me.”

What is the time frame of all this?
“I’m not overly optimistic, and it pains me to say this. From an operational standpoint we are ready, but I doubt that we will manage to achieve anything before the end of this year.”

Publication Date: 2007-06-10
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=7371